By-elections - 20th September 2012

[greatkingrat]

CANTERBURY - Blean Forest (Conservative died)

2011 - Con 626/568, Grn 400/300, LD 184/173
2007 - Con 625/560, LD 261/234, Lab 150/131
2003 - Con 672/562, Grn 176, Lab 159/139

Howard FARMER (UK Independence Party)
Ben FITTER (The Conservative Party Candidate)
Carol GOLDSTEIN (Labour Party Candidate)
John HIPPISLEY (Independent)
Russell PAGE (Green Party)
Dan SMITH (Liberal Democrat)

CORNWALL - St Keverne and Meneage (Independent died)

2009 - Ind1 673, Con 657, Ind2 356, LD 127, Ind3 67, Lab 33

Nicholas DRIVER (Liberal Democrats)
Sandra MARTIN (The UK Independence Party)
Steven RICHARDS (The Labour Party Candidate)
Walter SANGER (Conservative Party)

HEREFORDSHIRE - St Nicholas (Its Our County died)

2011 - IOC 827/607, Con 423/279, LD 320/312, Lab 273
2010 by - IOC 589, LD 385, Ind 173, Con 156
2007 - Ind 670/576, LD 388/387, Con 354/250, Grn 258/255, BNP 175
2004 by - LD 936, Con 783, Ind 524, Lab 288
2003 - LD 1105/1013, Ind 840/458, Con 534/491

Stan GYFORD (Labour Party Candidate)
David HURDS (Liberal Democrat)
Mark MCEVILLY (Local Conservatives)
Anthony POWERS (It's OUR County (Herefordshire))

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE - Rufford (Independent died)[/u]

2009 - Ind 1309, Con 1259, Lab 1109
2005 - Lab 2909, Con 1542, Ind1 954, Ind2 606

Jim GREGSON (Nottinghamshire Independents)
Daniel MOTTISHAW (Conservative Party Candidate)
John PECK (The Labour Party Candidate)
Carole TERZZA (UK Independence Party)

SCARBOROUGH - Esk Valley (Conservative resigned)

2011 - Con 1183/928, Ind 417, Lab 379
2007 - Con 1069/884, LD 645, Ind 317
2003 - Con x2 unopposed

Guy COULSON (The Conservative Party Candidate)
Michael JAMES (UK Independence Party)
Simon PARKES (Labour Party Candidate)
Ed SCOTT (English Democrats - Putting England First)
Mike WARD (Independent)

[Sibboleth]

Presumably an easy hold for the Local Independents For Local People in St. Nicks.

[Tony Otim]

St Keverne and Meneage looks interesting to predict though

[Rural Radical]

The Nottinghamshire contest should be a Labour Gain!

[listener]

Here is some background to the by-election in the St. Nicholas ward of Hereford City Council in Herefordshire unitary authority.

Hereford City Council comprises 18 members elected from seven wards – Aylestone (2), Belmont (3), Central (1), St. Martins and Hinton (3), St. Nicholas (2), Three Elms (4) and Tupsley (3).

The council strengths were:
Elections on 3 May 2007: Lib Dem 8, Ind 6, Con 2, Lab 2
Elections on 5 May 2011: It’s OUR County 8, Lib Dem 3, Ind 3, Con 3, Lab 1

Following the St. Martins and Hinton by-election on 28 July 2011, the council strength is It’s OUR County 7, Lib Dem 4, Ind 3, Con 3, Lab 1
(This by-election was caused by the successful It’s OUR County candidate deciding not to sign the acceptance of office – she had contested the same ward unsuccessfully for the unitary authority – resulting in a Lib Dem gain)

The result in St. Nicholas ward on 3 May 2007 was:
Ind 986/956, Lib Dem 559/557
Elected: Ind 2

The result in St. Nicholas ward on 5 May 2011 was:
It’s OUR County 866/654, Con 470, Lib Dem 337/332, Lab 266
Elected: It’s OUR County 2

The by-election is caused by the death of Julie Woodward (It’s OUR County) on 14 July, following a battle with cancer.

The candidates are It’s OUR County, Lib Dem and Con.

[listener]

Here is the background to the two by-elections in the Chadsmead ward of Lichfield City Council in Lichfield District.

Lichfield City Council comprises 28 members elected from six wards – Boley Park (5), Chadsmead (3), Curborough (5), Leomansley (5), St. John’s (5) and Stowe (5).

The council strengths were:
Elections on 1 May 2003: Con 17, Lab 6, Lib Dem 5
Elections on 3 May 2007: Con 23, Lib Dem 4, Ind 1
Elections on 5 May 2011: Con 26, Lab 1, Lib Dem 1

The result in Chadsmead ward on 1 May 2003 was:
Con 349/313, Lab 340/320/278
Elected: Con 1, Lab 2

The result in Chadsmead ward on 3 May 2007 was:
Lib Dems 422/344/343, Con 368/366/345, Lab 181/173/168, Independent 55
Elected: Lib Dem 1, Con 2

The result in Chadsmead ward on 5 May 2011 was:
Con 397/389/384, Lib Dems 344/222/205, Lab 309/278/277
Elected: Con 3

These by-elections are caused by the resignations of Mick Fryers Jnr (Con) and Mick Fryers Snr (Con) – allegedly before they were disqualified for non-attendance. Mick Fryers Snr remains a member for Chadsmead ward on Lichfield District Council.

The candidates are 2 Lib Dem, 2 Con, 2 No Description and 2 Lab.

The two candidates without description are Eileen Cope and John Maunder, who stood as UKIP candidates for the District Council in 2011 in Curborough and St. John’s wards respectively. UKIP did not field any candidates in 2011 for the City Council.

[bungle]

Another Scarborough by-election I see (how many in the last ten years?)

Esk Valley ward one of the prettiest in the borough which includes a lot of the Moors and the tourist trap that is Goathland aka 'Aidensfield' (urgh, but it keeps the shops afloat).

All the electorate is made up of small villages or outlying farms/houses and it is not known for any particular issues or activism. Should be a Tory hold esp with split opposition unless one particular candidate gets stuck in. No sign of that when I was last in the area two weeks ago.

[Davıd Boothroyd]

The Independent candidate, Mike Ward, is a former councillor in Whitby West Cliff ward, which he won in 2007 by beating the second Conservative by 24 votes. He and the Labour candidate both live in Whitby which is near to one part of the ward (Sleights) but not particularly near to the other villages. The UKIP and English Democrat candidates both live in Scarborough which is a long way away. Only the Conservative actually lives in the ward, although at the Whitby end.

[marksenior]

Aug 29, 2012 8:41:28 GMT Tony Otim said:

St Keverne and Meneage looks interesting to predict though

I think it is pretty straightforward , especially if you look who was the DC councillor in part of the ward prior to 2009 .

[The Bishop]

The musical soundtrack strayed into the 1970s quite a bit towards the end, too!

[marksenior]

Sept 6, 2012 13:35:33 GMT listener said:

Here is some background to the by-election in the St. Nicholas ward of Hereford City Council in Herefordshire unitary authority.

Hereford City Council comprises 18 members elected from seven wards – Aylestone (2), Belmont (3), Central (1), St. Martins and Hinton (3), St. Nicholas (2), Three Elms (4) and Tupsley (3).

The council strengths were:
Elections on 3 May 2007: Lib Dem 8, Ind 6, Con 2, Lab 2
Elections on 5 May 2011: It’s OUR County 8, Lib Dem 3, Ind 3, Con 3, Lab 1

Following the St. Martins and Hinton by-election on 28 July 2011, the council strength is It’s OUR County 7, Lib Dem 4, Ind 3, Con 3, Lab 1
(This by-election was caused by the successful It’s OUR County candidate deciding not to sign the acceptance of office – she had contested the same ward unsuccessfully for the unitary authority – resulting in a Lib Dem gain)

The result in St. Nicholas ward on 3 May 2007 was:
Ind 986/956, Lib Dem 559/557
Elected: Ind 2

The result in St. Nicholas ward on 5 May 2011 was:
It’s OUR County 866/654, Con 470, Lib Dem 337/332, Lab 266
Elected: It’s OUR County 2

The by-election is caused by the death of Julie Woodward (It’s OUR County) on 14 July, following a battle with cancer.

The candidates are It’s OUR County, Lib Dem and Con.

The It's Our County candidate for the UA is apparently a nationally well known ( but not to a philistine like me ) composer .

[paulw]

Seems to be a pecking order over the display of posters in Nottinghamshire

conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2012/09/council-tenants-banned-from-displaying-anti-labour-election-poster.html

[ColinJ]

Aug 28, 2012 23:00:21 GMT greatkingrat said:

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE - Rufford (Independent died)

[/u]

2009 - Ind 1309, Con 1259, Lab 1109
2005 - Lab 2909, Con 1542, Ind1 954, Ind2 606

Jim GREGSON (Nottinghamshire Independents)
Daniel MOTTISHAW (Conservative Party Candidate)
John PECK (The Labour Party Candidate)
Carole TERZZA (UK Independence Party)
[/quote]

I take it that the Labour candidate is NOT the "John H. Peck" who was Communist candidate in Nottingham North between 1955 and 1974? If so, he'd be 90 years old....

[Davıd Boothroyd]

Sept 18, 2012 18:40:00 GMT ColinJ said:

I take it that the Labour candidate is NOT the "John H. Peck" who was Communist candidate in Nottingham North between 1955 and 1974? If so, he'd be 90 years old....

No, sadly not.

Tributes to a life spent in politics
Nottingham Evening Post, Tuesday 30 March 2004

He shot to fame in 1988 as one of the few Communist Party members in Britain to be elected to public office.

He represented Bulwell East for almost ten years - and held the balance of power on a deadlocked Nottingham City Council for two years, when there were 27 Labour and 27 Tory councillors.

Despite 45 years' membership of the Communist Party, he defected to the Greens in 1990, becoming their only ever councillor in Nottingham .

Mr Peck died at the Queen's Medical Centre on Sunday, March 21, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease.

Family, friends and former colleagues paid tribute to the great-grandfather, of Highbury Walk, Bulwell.

Nottingham South MP Alan Simpson, who campaigned alongside Mr Peck against nuclear disarmament, described him as "the most principled person you could ever wish to meet".

He added: "He was an absolute treasure to campaign with because he was honest, reliable and kind. If you were looking for a template on which to rebuild the reputation of politicians, John Peck could well have been it. Nottingham has been richer for having him and the poorer for losing him." Former councillor Betty Higgins, who was leader of the city and Labour group at the time John held the balance of power on the council, said people respected him for his conviction.

"He was a man of firm principles, very genuine and straight forward," she said. "When Labour and Tories had the same number of councillors, he could have been very mischievous.

"But he was much too caring for the people of Bulwell to do that sort of thing. He always wanted to do the best for them." Diane Lunzer, chairman of Nottingham CND, worked with John since 1970. She said: "He was very gentle and hard working and people elected the man rather than the party." One of his two children, Joe, 58, said: "Even though he changed parties he never lost his beliefs. We're very sad but glad that his suffering has ended." During his political career, Mr Peck stood for Parliament ten times and contested local authority seats 39 times, securing Bulwell East at the 36th try.

He said his election was the most satisfying moment of his life in politics.

He told the Post in 1997: "The day after I got elected I came into town and stood at the far end of Market Square, and then walked straight down the processional way straight into the Council House.

"I had always been told, 'You'll never get elected'. I don't believe in never." His political convictions were inspired by an uncle, a Communist Party member, and then fuelled by the Second World War.

As Flying Officer Peck, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross after completing 36 sorties over Germany in Lancaster bombers. He also flew the Wellington bomber over North Africa. A posting in Calcutta opened his eyes to famine.

He joined the Communist Party in October 1944. He fought his first local election in 1946 as candidate for the former Lindsey County Council, polling just 165 votes. Undeterred, he fought another election the same year.

Mr Peck climbed the ranks of the Communist Party, at one time becoming a member of its national ruling executive.

Always one to speak his mind, he was once assaulted by a mob in the Old Market Square and had his car overturned.

Mr Peck retired from the council in 1997, aged 74. He was made an honorary alderman and became chairman of Nottingham Pensioners' Action Group.

He is survived by his wife Margret, his two children and eight grand-children.

The Lord Mayor of Nottingham , Sheriff of Nottingham , and eight aldermen will be among those at his funeral at Bramcote Crematorium on Thursday at 12.20pm.

This John Peck is Vice-Chairman of Edwinstowe Parish Council, and councillor for Edwinstowe ward on Newark and Sherwood District Council.

[greatkingrat]

During his political career, Mr Peck stood for Parliament ten times and contested local authority seats 39 times, securing Bulwell East at the 36th try.

Must be a record for most unsuccessful attempts before being elected.

[David Ashforth]

Ward maps

CANTERBURY - Blean Forest

CORNWALL - St Keverne and Meneage

HEREFORDSHIRE - St Nicholas

NOTTINGHAMSHIRE – Rufford

SCARBOROUGH - Esk Valley

[zoe]

Sept 18, 2012 17:41:44 GMT paulw said:

Seems to be a pecking order over the display of posters in Nottinghamshire

conservativehome.blogs.com/localgovernment/2012/09/council-tenants-banned-from-displaying-anti-labour-election-poster.html

Hasn't the ALMO got better things to do?

[Deleted]

why don't the Tory voters just put up pro Tory ones instead of slagging off an opponent ?

[Davıd Boothroyd]

I wonder if it's just a reaction against excessive byelection literature and canvassing. That doesn't necessarily denote political disagreement.

[Tony Otim]

And sentiments against the Labour candidate are not the same thing as supporting the Conservative. The tone would suggest people who are either unlikely to vote for any of them or might vote for the Nottinghamshire independant, perhaps.